The cheerleaders sat in a circle in the gymnasium as the speaker announced,  “In first place, Pascack Valley High School.” They cheered as they received the first place trophy, which is now proudly displayed in the cheer gym.

On February 12th, the PV Varsity Competitive Cheerleaders competed in the Saint Anne’s Competition which took place at Fair Lawn High School. With coaches Kasey Terzini & Christine Martinez, the girls competed against Hackensack and won the Junior Varsity trophy, marking the first time Pascack Valley has ever won the competition.

Pascack Valley competed against one other division, and there was roughly 30 teams in the competition as a whole. The cheerleaders were graded on facials, sharpness, execution, difficulty level, and the absence of mistakes. The performance consisted of pyramids, partner stunts, basket tosses, and tumbling.

This year, the team had a new focus to go along with their new coach. They made sure to hit all the moves to make sure they looked clean rather than focusing on more difficult stunting.

“Focusing on these aspects made us different from the other teams and made us stand out,” Hailee Donne, a junior on the team, said.

This event ended the team’s cheer competition season on a high note. The captains for next year’s cheer team will be Hailee Donne, Brielle Padovan, Megan Garrett, and Lauren Martinez.